To change childcare or not... advice wanted

We moved house last year, and my little one continued to attend the same childcare, which is about 30mins drive away our new local public school.

I'm a bit torn as to what to do with his childcare/kindy until then.

He has made some really good friends at his current childcare, knows all the staff and we are very happy with the care they provide him. His childcare is right near my work, so the distance is not much of an issue at the moment.

He turns three at the end of this month, and will be moving up to the pre-kindy room. His current childcare does not have kindy services, but their sister centre (about 5 mins away from the current childcare) does. His best friend will be attending the sister centre when they are ready to attend kindy.

I'm a bit torn as to when to move him. Has anyone had experience with this before? Is it better to move him now, or soon (pre-kindy), wait until he starts kindy (2014) or just wait until he starts school?

He's had a lot of changes already this year, and hasn't always coped the best... so I'm a bit hesitant to put him through more changes at this stage, but want to do the best for him.

If he's going to be moved to a sister school anyway I'd personally move him then. He will make new friends. It will probably be hard for you both to begin with but he'll settle in. If the childcare is near the public school he might even make friends with people that will go to the same school as him.

I would probably seriously consider moving him when he is supposed to go to the sister school. I am assuming that his current school prepares them at this stage for that kind of change, so it would probably be a good time to do it. How many days does he go? Is his current school full, or would there be a chance to put him back in if it all goes pear-shaped?

Most preschool teachers are pretty patient and used to coping with kids who are having a hard time dealing with change. Perhaps your current school has some knowledge of decent preschools in your new area? You can always approach the school you think would be best and have a chat to them about the changes he has had to handle recently, if they are aware of it then they would probably be more able to make his transition less stressful. My DD has a hard time coping with change, and a hard time leaving me, so we have had to take baby steps with preschool. Thankfully she has some lovely and patient teachers!

To change childcare or not... advice wanted

I would just leave him. Lots of kids won't know each other come day 1 of kindy. The teachers do a lot of getting to know each other activities to help them settle in. Should u need to do kindy and childcare that year, he could still go to the one near your work and be fully settled at least. Also when you go to the kindy info session prior to it starting you can network and get some mums together for some prekindy playdates.

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